Married At First Sight
by AbedNadir
Summary: Heartbroken and now homeless, FBI agent Maya Hart has no choice but to take an boring undercover mission pretending to have the perfect married life. Much to her surprise her new husband is an old 'friend', and pretending to love him starts to get a little complicated.
1. New Home

As Maya unpacked her things into her room, she thought about the last place all of her things had been. Her favorite piece of artwork had been nailed up over a fireplace, her favorite photo of her old dog had been on the coffee table, and her favorite cushions had been on the lovely brown leather sofa she'd picked out with Rob . Now they were here, ready to go into a new house she'd never even seen before. They didn't fit, they didn't feel right. But then again, neither did she.

Moving from the busy center of New York to the suburbs wasn't exactly her ideal situation, and nothing like she'd imagined her life to be at this moment. She sighed, placing the rest of her boxes in the main bedroom. She'd have to wait for further instructions until she could pack away the rest of her stuff.

The house was cold, and not just in temperature. It smelt like a dentist office, everything was too clean, too tidy, too perfect. Even just looking outside she could see what kind of a place this was. The neighbourhood seemed to coordinate how long the grass was, what colors their homes were, and even the shade of white their picket fences could be painted. It was like a street of identical dollhouses.

Maya was just about to go make herself a coco when her phone started buzzing. Picking it up, she heard the familiar gritty voice of her superior.

"Hart. How are you settling in?" He said so loudly she swore he may as well be yelling in her face.

"Fine. Yeah. Nothing suspicious yet."

He tutted. "Typical, already on the lookout. Just try to relax, get unpacked the best you can, and wait till your partner gets there."

"My partner?" She scoffed. "Don't you mean my new husband ?"

"Look I know you're not into all this domestic stuff, but we wouldn't have picked you if we didn't think you were the right women for the job. Speak to you later agent." And the phone went dead before she had the chance to make some sarcastic comment. That guy was annoying enough, but since this transfer he seemed to think he could just talk to her however he wanted. Just because he knew she'd been gone for a while.

Being an FBI agent was never going to easy. Maya had already had her experience of sexism, verbal abuse, tormenting teachers and even a stab wound. Still she never thought she'd been unlucky enough to have an undercover operation that involved the American dream, roughly translated to her nightmare.

She'd take undercover work in the most violent Mafia in the country where there was a 95% chance she'd be stabbed again over this. This was hell on earth. Boring, tiresome, dreary hell.

Boiling the kettle for her much needed coco she started to wonder what compelled people to move here in the first place. Not that her and Rob ever discussed it, but she assumed they'd never move here. Not that he wanted to move anywhere with him.

She'd moved in with him when she was 18 , desperately wanting out of her home and saw no other option. Maya had wanted to make the move, she was in love and it seemed like she perfect beginning to the story of her and Rob . Although reluctant, he'd let her move in and they'd begun a very happy few years together. She'd already been an early recruit to the FBI and her life finally seemed to be making sense. She had a plan. Her life had a structure for the first time in her life and she loved it.

Now 24 and she'd been kicked to the curb. She kept replaying that day over and over in her head.

* * *

 _"Rob?" She asked, walking in early evening with a take away in one hand and some paperwork in the other. She'd just been told to look over some dumb undercover case that she had no intention of taking, but was told her thoughts on the case overall would be helpful._

 _"Maya!" He yelled from the bedroom sounding far too alarmed to see her. "I'll be out in a minute!"_

 _"What's wrong?" She chuckled nervously, noticing his tone. She slowly opened the door to their bedroom and saw him, looking utterly shocked. Behind him stood a girl with ebony hair and a little smirk on her face._

 _"I didn't want you to find out this way." Was all he had to say. She threw the take out bag at him and stormed out of the apartment, staying with a friend from work for the night. Apparently he'd never thought their relationship would last, and he'd gotten tired. He'd told her she wasn't the kind of girl you settle down him. Whatever that meant._

 _2 weeks later she was all packed up and heading out on what she knew was going to be the most boring mission of her life._

* * *

Taking the first sip of her drink was interrupted by the sound of a horn outside. The second moving van had pulled up, and she could see a fake mover man, actually one of her co workers talking to a tall blonde man. As she headed to the door to greet them she could see the man in a little bit more detail. Was this the man who was going to be her husband. He was...not bad. From the back anyway. She could see he had sandy blonde hair and nicely defined muscles. Although that was sort of to be expected with an FBI agent.

"Hello." She ventured outside and glanced around the neighbourhood to see if anybody was watching. Luckily they'd chosen the time of the local market which apparently everybody went to. The only people in their homes didn't care about any new neighbours .

"Ah, Maya so good to see you." At the mention of the name Maya the blonde man span round with widened eyes. The second Maya got a glimpse of his face, she recognized him.

"Lucas?" She stammered, taken completely by surprise. He...was in the FBI?

"Maya Hart." He sounded just as shocked as her and the moving man was just confused.

"You two know each other?" He asked. "Your records showed no overlap, we figured it was best to keep you as separate as possible for the mission in case anyone went looking."

"We were in high school together." Maya explained, looking back down at the grass. This just became worse than her worst nightmare. This wasn't hell, this was the freaking apocalypse. This was too much for her to handle.

"Well, how about we get inside and I can get you prepared for your mission? Mr and Mrs Walker. "


	2. Old Friend

Just seeing his face brought back memories of high school that Maya had long ago hidden away in the very back of her mind, never to be disturbed again. She kept glancing at him, and catching him doing the same to her. She wondered if he remembered her much at all.

They each took a seat at the table. "Now, I'm lead to believe you have both been briefed on the mission at hand quite thoroughly?"

"Yes sir." Maya said, trying not to look at Lucas. She could feel him looking at her, and she wasn't about to do or say anything in front of her boss.

"Briefly." Lucas said truthfully.

"The idea is simple. We believe that the family across the road is at the centre of a drug supplier. They distribute drugs to the less economically stable parts of town, and are getting good at it. Allocations have recently been made that this family, the Blackmore's, have also been responsible for dozens of disappearances in the town, as well as a few bodies. We need to stop this before it becomes too big to stop."

"Right." Lucas nodded.

"You are here to befriend the Blackmores, a Miss Sasha and a Mr Joe. They have 3 teenage boys, and one young girl. We believe the boys are helping with selling the drugs to low end dealers, a couple of the people we've managed to pick up. I need to stress, your job is not to arrest. Your job is to gather as much information to put these people away as possible. We need computer records, bank statements, photographs and witnesses."

"Sounds easy enough." Maya shot him a look. Arrogance was always a speciality of his.

"They're highly respected in the community, they need to respect you as well. You need to gain their trust, which is easier said than done. You'll be working at the local school their daughter goes to Maya, hopefully that will get you in with the mother. Lucas, you'll be working at a mechanics the father owns and spends some of his time. You start in a couple days. Your fake persona has all the experience necessary, and you've been trained. We've contacted Mr Blackmore through a fake email, the details to which are in your briefing packets locked in a box within your stuff."

"Thank you." Lucas said, still looking straight at Maya. She shifted in her chair, trying to concentrate.

"Maya, I understand you expressed your interest in ending this mission as soon as possible. Given your track record I understand your reluctance to take part in this mission. We'll finish it as quickly as we can, and I have people working on finding you an apartment for after it ends. Also, I have to say, I was very impressed by your extensive past experience, even at your young age. Fantastic work over in Berlin I hear. Lucas, you could learn lots of things from Ms Hart here, I suggest you take advantage of this opportunity." He said coldly, standing up. "I've been here long enough, your phones have my number if you have any inquiries."

He left swiftly, without saying goodbye.

"So Maya Hart." Lucas stated. "Oh, wait. Should that be pancakes?" Maya frowned, feeling sick at her old nickname.

"No. It's not." Lucas saw that he'd hit a button.

"I'm sorry, I know you never liked that nickname. Although it wasn't much better than what you used to call me. Huckleberry right?"

"I might have called you that once or twice." Maya reluctantly admitted.

"And Ranger Rick, and Bucky Mcboing biong, and various other insulting names based around my Texas heritage."

"I was the only one who used to call you those. You got the entire room to call me pancakes." Maya spat out, furious he'd even mention the name in the first place.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't think it bothered you." Lucas stood up and put the kettle on. He seemed to be making himself at home pretty easily. "I didn't think anything bothered you. That was your thing right? Bad girl with a care free attitude?"

"I didn't have a thing." Maya watched Lucas start making... "Are you making coco?"

"Yeah, that's your favourite right? You used to drink one every morning from the café near the school. I used to see you carry one around, they always smelt lovely."

"You remember that kind of stuff?" Maya watched suspiciously as he pottered around the kitchen finding everything he needed.

"Well yeah." He sounded insulted that she didn't think he would. "You don't remember anything about me?"

"I remember you were an arrogant, popular, pretty boy who was too perfect for his own good." She said harshly. She wasn't about to sit and pretend like she liked him in high school.

"You thought I was pretty?" He teased and Maya cracked her first smile since she'd seen him.

"Whatever. I thought you were an ass." She started unpacking some boxes, not feeling much like asking where he thought anything should go.

"That's not how you were acting at my graduation party." He said, a little quieter. Maya winced. She'd hoped he wouldn't remembered.

"I was hammered that night. We all were."

* * *

 _After years of torture, Maya was finally free from everyone who had teased on her, picked on her, and made her life torture for the past few years of her life._

 _Which is why it made it so much more surprising that she'd showed up for the graduation party held by a boy she very publically hated. Dressed all in black, hair un-brushed and untameable, she was determined to go off to college with closure for the crush that had made her life even more miserable since day one of high school._

 _Eventually she saw him, surrounded by a group of the usual idiots, lounging around in the kitchen. Maya quickly grabbed two shots from the table and did one after the other for the burst of confidence she felt she needed._

 _After being forced to tutor him for the year, Maya had stopped herself from ever saying something despite her feelings growing for him. But now nothing could stop her. No excuses, no obstacles, no regrets._

 _"Huckleberry!" She cried, walking towards him with as much confidence as she could muster. He turned to her, smirking._

 _"You came! I didn't think you'd come!" Much to her surprise, he actually sounded happy about it._

 _"I thought it was only right I gave up one evening of my life to say goodbye to people I've hated for years."_

 _"Am I included in those people?" Lucas teased, but then realised she wasn't kidding. "Are you here to say goodbye?"_

 _"Yeah. I leave for my holiday in a couple days, and I'm not coming back after that. This place has been my hell for long enough." She'd made it very clear to Lucas when tutoring him in English that she was only doing it for college credit. She wasn't afraid to be vocal about her hatred for school and everyone in it. Even if that hatred was mostly based on their hatred for her._

 _"Hang on then!" Lucas grabbed hold of her hand and started pulling her away from the kitchen. He stepped over a 'no entry sign' to take her upstairs and pulled her into his room, shutting the door so he could actually hear what she was saying. It didn't feel right to say goodbye to her in a room crowded with people._

 _"There, I can hear you now." He rubbed the back of his neck, a little nervous. "So you're really not coming back?"_

 _"No. I've been invited to go travelling with Shaun and I couldn't say no. I'm coming back for maybe a couple days to collect my stuff before I go to college." She glanced around his room. It wasn't like she'd not been in here before. Tutoring him 3 times a week meant she spent a lot of time in here. Still, it was different now. Less formal._

 _"That's...great. I'm glad you'll get to travel. You said you wanted to." Lucas said. "And hey, thanks for all your help this year. You're the reason I've even got a chance of getting into college."_

 _"It was no problem."_

 _"So who else are you saying goodbye to?"_

 _"No one." She admitted. It was pretty tragic that Lucas, someone who she was supposed to hate, was the only person in the school to know anything about her._

 _"I feel special pancakes." He grinned and watched her small smile drop at the nickname. "I always feel bad that nickname stuck. I didn't mean it to, it was just my little name for you."_

 _"I didn't need you to give me a nickname." Maya sighed. 'Short stack of pancakes' was apparently how she was going to be known. Her award in the yearbook was 'most likely to remain a short stack of pancakes'. Pathetic._

 _"I know, but you have so many for me. I wanted to return the favour." He took a couple steps closer to her and Maya felt her breathe waver. That feeling in her stomach came back. Fluttering. It always happened when he got close._

 _"I just wanted to wish you luck for college. You worked hard this year, I hope it all works out for you."_

 _"Thanks. I know you'll do amazingly at whatever you do." Lucas said softly. "You know, I never understood why people thought you were cold. You're pretty okay once you get to know you."_

 _"And you're still not a fake when you get to know you." Maya said, a little ruder than she'd planned. She saw Lucas twitch at the word 'fake'._

 _"Well thanks. Coming from you, that's a decent compliment." His finger outstretched to play with a stand of her loose hair. She looked up at him, trying not to think about how close he was. This was what she had wanted, it was why she was here, but now the opportunity was here, she wasn't sure she had the guts to take it._

 _No regrets._

 _She quickly closed the gap between and he was so eager to respond to her kiss he swept her off her feet. Their chests pressed up against one another, and she ran her hands over his shoulders and onto his toned back. He fell forward a little, quickly walking forward to stop himself from falling until Maya was backed into the desk. He placed her down so she was sat on it and she wrapped her legs around his hips so he could get closer to her. His fingers threaded in her hair, thumbs resting on each of her flushed cheeks._

 _He moaned against her lips, enjoying the feel of her skin, the taste of her mouth and the smell of her hair. He wanted to remember every single detail of her before she left, saviour every moment. He'd been fighting the want to do this for too long now, and he regretted it. If he'd had the courage to tell her how he'd felt months ago, he could have been so happy. But he was too much of a fake, too afraid of doing anything that would mess with this perfect image of himself he'd created._

 _Time seemed to fly by, leading to them continuing to make out on Lucas' bed and them both wanting to just be with each other for as long as possible. Maya registered in the back of her mind she must have been up here for at least an hour but she ignored the warning bells in her head telling her to leave before she didn't have the self control to leave him. She wanted to travel. She wanted to leave this place and never come back. That was the deal she'd made with herself a long time._

 _"Lucas, I have to go." She said, finally breaking away from his lips. He shook his head. She couldn't leave now, that would be it. He'd not see her again. he wanted to beg her to stay. To keep in contact. To do anything that didn't mean she'd leave his life. But he didn't say anything like that._

 _"Okay. I understand." He saw her eyes flicker down to her lips so he dared steal one more kiss from her. Soft, sweet and innocent. It ended far too quickly._

 _Maya stood up and straightened out her hair and clothing. Lucas wasn't sure what to do._

 _"Have fun on your holiday." He said, regretting it instantly. What a terrible, empty thing to say. "I hope college is different from high school in every way."_

 _"Thanks. I hope everything goes well for you." She said weakly. She couldn't say goodbye. It felt too final. "See you around Huckleberry."_

 _And that was the last time he heard her voice in 7 years._

* * *

"I was drunk." Maya replied. "I was upset about leaving and I got emotional. No big deal."

"Come on, admit it, we were close that last year." He placed down a mug of coco in front of her. It didn't look half bad.

"I hated you a little less after tutoring you I guess. That graduation party was all a blur to me. I hardly remember it at all." She lied.

"Then why are you blushing?" Lucas chuckled.

"I'm warm. Stop reading into things." She snapped. "Can you help me unpack something please?"

"Fine. But you'll have to start warming up to me soon. We're newly weds remember? We have to be in love." He reminded her.

"Whatever. It's not like I have to be super glued to you the whole time."

"No, but we do have to share a bed. And a home. And sit down to dinner, and hold hands and pretend to be all lovey dovey."

"Can you please just act professional please?" She begged.

"Fine. Would it be better for you if I pretended I've never met you before?"

"Yes." She said keenly. She loved that idea.

"Fine. Hey, my name is Lucas and I think you're cute." he joked around, finally getting some books out of a box.

"Oh god. Just kill me now." Maya whined.

"Now come on darling, remember we're in love."

Yeah. What she wouldn't have given for them to be in love years ago. Irony is a cruel, cruel creature.


	3. Friendly Faces

"I'm sorry." Maya said quietly as they both sat in the kitchen. It had been a couple of hours since either of them had spoken, and Maya wasn't enjoying it. "I'm not myself right now. I hate this mission, I don't really want to be here."

"I'll try not to take that personally." Lucas chuckled. "I'm sorry too. I got guarded. I've done a really good job of staying away from everybody from high school since I left. I don't like that part of my life. You were right about me back then, I was a fake jerk."

"You've changed." Maya commented and he looked at her, surprised.

"How can you tell?"

"You just apologized to me. You never said sorry for anything you ever did to me through high school, but you just did. So you've changed." She laughed, more to herself than to him. "Must be why I married you."

"Yeah. Lovely wedding too." Lucas couldn't help but imagine it. He never thought he'd get married, it felt weird he was 'married' without having a wedding. "Quiet though."

"Only close friends and your family." Maya added. It wasn't like she had any family to invite.

"Your dress was beautiful. Lace...with a black ribbon around your hips." Lucas recalled a dress he'd seen in a shop a while ago that would have been perfect for Maya now he thought about it.

"You looked very handsome in your suit." She tugged at the collar of the shirt he was wearing, replacing it her head with a nice suit.

"Church?" He asked her but Maya shook her head.

"Outside. Barefoot. In a park in Texas...the one you told me about when we were younger. You always described it as your favorite place when we were writing for English essays." Maya remembered. It had sounded like a beautiful place. Lucas was taken aback.

"You remember that?" He grinned. He couldn't stop himself from actually picturing it. Maya in his childhood town, surrounded by flowers and guests, all smiling at her. Even in his head, she looked beyond beautiful. She was breathtaking. he felt a warmness in his chest as this fake memory, and he had to remind himself that that was all it was. A fake memory.

"Yeah..it sounded nice. And if I'm fake planning my wedding, I'd like it to theoretically be in a nice place." Lucas didn't get to say anything else as the doorbell rang. Maya rushed to the table in a heartbeat, grabbing the gun that was stuck underneath the kitchen table.

"Hey! Steady now!" Lucas freaked, but then cursed his foolishness. He should have grabbed a weapon, it was rule number 1 about protection. He hadn't never unpacked his gun yet, and there was Maya already having hers hidden and ready to go.

"Just go and open the door please." Maya asked. "I'll hide to the side until I know it's safe. I've got your back." She tried to calculate if they'd made a mistake. Maybe the Blackmores already knew they were undercover. A small part of Maya hoped that were true. It would get her out of this stupid mission. Although, glancing at Lucas, she wasn't so sure she wanted this to end as quickly anymore.

"Fine. Man, we get married and suddenly you're bossy as hell." He smirked, waiting until Maya was in position before opening the door.

"Hey there!" Two voices, one male and one female cheered from outside.

"Oh...hi." Lucas said, clearly caught off guard. He nodded to Maya that it was okay, and cautiously Maya put her gun away and joined him at the door. The women was brunette, with curly locks of hair falling just past her shoulders, and a warm smile on her face. Her eyes were large, shining and deep chocolate brown, reminding Maya of a very happy puppy. Next to her stood a man with scruffy honey brown hair, dressed all in black. He was holding a very delightful smelling basket of mini muffins.

"Hello." Maya said, biting her lip. They looked like the neighbors. Not Sasha & Joe, but neighbors.

"Hi, I'm Riley and this is Farkle." The women said, reaching out and taking the hand of Farkle next to her. Maya wanted to ask her to repeat the man's name. Farkle? That couldn't be right...

"We live next door." Farkle continued. "And we wanted to say welcome to the neighborhood, and give you these." He passed the basket to Lucas who was still looking shocked as hell.

"Thanks so much!" Maya gushed, getting into her character. "This is so lovely of you. I'm Maya, and this is my new husband, Lucas." Lucas gave her a look of horror, and then forced a smile. Maya wanted to slap him it looked so false. Had he forgotten they were undercover?

"Awh! Newlyweds, that's so sweet." Farkle smiled. "We've been engaged since we were 18, but we're in no rush to get married."

"Not at all." Riley agreed. "Such a hassle. I don't know how you did it."

"Ours was so quiet and simple." Maya explained. "It didn't take a lot of planning. This one was just excited to get me down the aisle."

"That's sweet." Riley looked at Lucas, expecting him to say something, but he didn't.

"Don't mind him." Maya said. "He's kinda shy. I'd invite you both in for coffee, but the house is just a mess! I don't think we'd have anywhere for you to even stand."

"Oh, no, that's alright. We just wanted to say welcome. It really is a lovely area."

"That's why we choose it." Maya replied and took the basket from Lucas. "This really was very lovely of you. They smell freshly baked."

"They are. I made them. I love to bake in my spare time." Farkle says.

"Well, we'll have to arrange for you to come over for dinner sometime." Maya smiles. "You can bring dessert, and we can return your lovely basket?"

"That would be wonderful." Riley and Farkle say at the same time.

"We'll leave you to get settled then." Riley carries on and Maya nods, looking grateful.

"Nice to meet you." Lucas finally says something. "Bye!"

"Bye!" The pair wave and begin to head back down the path. Lucas closes the door and immediately Maya slaps him lightly on the arm.

"What the hell was that?" She demands, heading back into the kitchen so she can finish her drink.

"I got nervous!" Lucas admits. "And what they hell was all that with you? Hey there!" He mocks in a high pitched, happy tone.

"That was called being undercover. You think people are going to like me if I behave like this?" Maya gestures to herself.

"I did!" Lucas blurts out then grimaces. "I...I just mean, you don't have to act like something you're not."

"I hate to break this to you cowboy, but that's what being undercover is. It's better to play pretend than risk being caught. If I act like myself, it's easier to slip up. Say something that could link me to who I really am. Besides, being nice and friendly gives me an excuse to introduce and talk to the Blackmore's." Lucas knew she was right, but he just liked her as she was. The idea of having to watch her be as fake as he once was just made him miserable.

"Right."

"A good agent needs to think about these things. You'll get there."

"You think I'll be a good agent one day?" He couldn't resist asking. Maya simply nodded and turned to look for dinner. There wasn't really anything in the house.

"Why don't we go out for dinner?" Lucas asked and Maya narrowed her eyes. She didn't really think he was ready to be out in public as Mr Walker. "It'll be good to show our faces. We'll pick a quiet place, talk about all the details we might need to know about each other."

"If you think it'll help." Maya said, still sceptical. "I'll go get changed." She couldn't go out if n the clothes she was in. Her top had been torn moving a cabinet, and her jeans were really dirty.

She got ready in 15 minutes, spending most of her time trying to find where she'd left the box with her clothes. As she changed, she looked at the bedroom. At the bed she was going to be sharing tonight. Maybe she could take the spare room. For now she would just focus on dinner.

"Ready?" She asked Lucas, who'd changed his shirt and gotten a jacket. He didn't look bad.

"Sure thing, my beautiful wife." She rolled her eyes at his teasing, but didn't have it in her to say anything. He could be such an idiot sometimes, and she couldn't deny that she liked it.


End file.
